travelpair

Hello All

Okay, I understand the sea grass and entry at water level, not pleasant. But is all you have to do is just walk out onto the piers and go swimming to swim free of grass? Or all places out of luck unless you go out via a boat to go snorkelling and such?

We love the idea of the staying in town and walking everywhere but swimming is important too.

Cdnfolks

Absolutely - just walk out to the end of piers - many are equipped with ladders and have a roped off swimming area. Also, some hotels have less - eg Banyan Bay and Banana Beach. Remember that the sea grass acts as a protective nursery for the beautiful fish you can see out on the reef!

RBCal

The best swimming beach is in front of Ramon's. They rake the sea grass and the beach is sandy close to shore. There are also many fish under Ramon's pier which is easy to swim out to (though there is sea grass in between the raked section and the end of the pier).

Many of the other piers the water is only waist deep.

JeanH

There's also some decent snorkeling off the pier at Caribbean Villas. We saw some neat things last time we were down. We swim almost every day. The really good snorkeling is via boat to get to the reef, but plenty of pleasant places to get wet right off shore.

mbzdiver

We just cut our ten day vacation short after four days at Exotic Caye Beach Resort. Do NOT stay at this resort, what a joke! Ambergris is not a vacation destination!! Between the raw sewage and garbage in the water and on the beach, forget about the problem of swimming in sea-grass!! Whether it's un-potable island drinking water or poor restaurant food that will make you sick or the double the price U.S. dollar inferior 7-11 food marts (there is no fresh produce and the few things that come in via water taxi from Belize are past expiration) Ambergris is not only a poverty pit but a serious rip-off. Dusty and poor, San Pedro is cobbled together tin shacks on top of one-another, nestled between bombed out rubble and ghost resorts. The whole experience is worse than a Tiajana slum.

JeanH

Sorry your trip to Ambergris was such a disappointment.

We've never gotten sick from the food, we do brush our teeth with tap water and use it to take pills with, although we drink bottled water.

Grocery shopping is an ongoing adventure. There are a couple produce shops in town, some days the selection is much better than others. Different store for smoked meats. Different store for poultry.
Most staples bought in one of the small local places, the ones that look like 7-11's tend to be overpriced.

There certainly is some trash in the water, some local, much washing ashore. I've never heard reports of raw sewage though.

Belize is third world. Real town, real poverty. Real dirt streets. Definitely not for everyone. We love it, plan on retiring to Ambergris in another year or so, at least for the winters.

Hope your further travels are more to your liking.

RBCal

Some people should just go to Cancun or Florida.

hopefulist

mbzdiver - sorry your trip was such a poor match to your expectations; sounds like you got sick, too - no fun.

Most of the things you describe I know are a part of Central America, I'm just looking at the places I visit and the wonderful locals through a different pair of glasses and keep going back for more. We've avoided Ambergris Caye because we know 80+% of the people who visit Belize go only there and that it's one of the most "civilized" spots in Belize. We're budget travelers by choice and have stayed in places as cheap as $3/night in CA and loved every one.

I hope there were some redeeming features about your trip and that you'll be willing to share those, too.

lakegirl

mbzdiver-

It sounds like you should stick with Cancun, do you ever get out of your resort when you travel? All of the islands have poverty if you get off the beaten track and really look around and mingle with the locals. Where have you been?!! I can't believe you gave such a poor description of such a beautiful place and wonderful people. Oh well to each his own, as someone said, maybe you should stick with Disney world.

travekjunkie

I've stayed at Exotic Caye Beach Resort on Ambergris Caye....it is a dump....the managers own the bar and could care less about the guests.